Digital photography with Nikon D3100 – The Girlfriend Connection

In today’s blog post I share my experience of starting digital photography with my (not mine actually) first DSLR camera and what is the girlfriend connection here!!

Bangalore – 2007 and 2011

2011, it was time again to move back to Bangalore to start a new inning. In 2007 it was about MBA and now it was a career. During my MBA time, most of my batchmates were from north India.And like me, it was their first time in southern India, which needless to say is very poles apart in cuisine from its cousin from above. The location of the college didn’t help either.

Homesickness in the city

It was in a dusty corner of Bangalore and that time it was not even considered part of the city. This place was none other than Kanakpura road and you can imagine what kind of facilities would have been there in 2007. Actually, it was a task for us to actually hit the core of the city (M.G Road – one in every Indian city) since most of us didn’t have our own vehicle and it was hard to read bus signboards in the local language.

But the good thing about Bangalore is that many local people understand and talk in Hindi if not English and that was a saving grace. Since most were not used to eating dosa and idli on a daily basis, life was becominghard plus the MBA. Many of us were homesick within few months and spending 2 full years felt like MISSION IMPOSSIBLE. Plus most of us didn’t have a Master Card so we had to rely upon pocket money to buy happiness.

Which also was very less and it added to more homesickness. So I would say coupled with these factors most of us had developed an aversion towards the city and especially for those like me who were from Delhi, Mumbai. The kind of lifestyle we were used to on our parent’s income in our hometown wasn’t happening here in Bangalore. So we decided never to return to this city ever!!

Second Innings in Bangalore

Well never say never since I got an offer letter from an IT company in Bangalore and it was time to move back again. So this time it was no more dusty Kanakpura but the Gurgaon (Gurugram) of Namma Bengaluru – Bellandur.

My office was in RMZ ECO Space and had taken up accommodation in PG nearby. Now this place was in stark contrast to my earlier venture in 2007. I was staying close to the mall, a small pub and reaching the core of the city (M.G Road) was not that difficult.Plus now I was earning, so goodbye to my pocket money challenges. I had the money power and master card to buy me any happiness. The stay was made even more enjoyable with my office buddies who were also migrants to the city like me.So bonding with new found friends became easier. We partied a lot whether it was in PG or in a pub. Life was finally turning up in Bangalore and I was enjoying my Bangalore 2.0.

It’s the Girlfriend

Fast forwarding the story to 2013. I got a friend request on facebook from a girl who happened to be from my MBA batch. It was a bit of a surprise to receive a friend request 6 years after MBA and that too from a girl who I had never interacted with.It was kind of a curious case for me and I accepted it with all honesty. Like the case with all new friends which you make online who are actually strangers, there was no communication between us for days.So like an online stalker, I started to browse her page and came to know that she loves to cook and participates in food festivals, some of which were done at her flat. One of such events was soon coming up.

Trapped for commerce

Then I only initiated the chat by asking her the details and like a good Samaritan offered my help for this event. And to my surprise, I came to know the reason behind her friend request. She wanted to expand hercustomer base and nothing beats Facebook in getting that. It was kind of a sad situation for me that my friendship was needed for a cash transaction. But I didn’t let it get the good of me. Although I never went to that food festival, I asked her out for a coffee instead. As you know a lot can happen over coffee and it did. Soon we found ourselves in a relationship.

Baby steps in Digital Photography with Nikon

Now you might be wondering where is the digital photography in all of this?? Wait, my friend, I am just coming to the good part now. For everything, there must be a back story.

I don’t know if it was the universe conspiring for my wishes and found a girl who also had an interest in photography. Since I didn’t carry my Sony Cybershot (read the detailed blog on Sony Cybershot) to Bangalore.Fearing for its security in PG dwelling. It so happened that my girlfriend’s roommate was also into photography and it was natural that we started discussing it. So when we used to go out for sightseeing,it was then that I got hold of her’s Nikon D3100 camera. In fact, during the early days of our online friendship, photography was a common topic we could chat upon.

As we started going out more and more, I got a chance to learn how to handle a DSLR camera. DSLR camera is a different kind of a beast and certainly, it requires some amount of time to understand it.Progressing from a Sony to Nikon was not easy. And so began hours of research on Youtube, “Digital photography for beginners”, “DSLR photography for beginners” and the likes.

Firstly a few shots were mostly done in “Automatic” mode. Since getting head on in “Manual” mode can be a daunting task. In manual mode, it’s like suddenly you have to control every piece of machinery in the camera and gets overwhelming.

Now, this post is certainly getting big. I will tackle the topic of my initial digital photography experience with Nikon in my next post. Also, I will be reviewing the features of this beloved camera of my girlfriend.

Hi there!! thanks for stopping by.I am Manas, a budding photographer and a full time IT consultant. I love exploring new things, travelling, reading and riding bikes. In my free time, i enjoy taking care of my beloved plants and i sometimes talk to them !!

Hi there!! thanks for stopping by.I am Manas, a budding photographer and a full time IT consultant. I love exploring new things, travelling, reading and riding bikes. In my free time, i enjoy taking care of my beloved plants and i sometimes talk to them !!